Title: BoundariesRating: RCharacters/Pairings: Serena Deeb/Joey MercuryWarnings: Sex, SES creepiness as per their usualSummary: When Serena turns to Joey for comfort, what started as a conversation ended up crossing an unspoken boundary.Note: I'd like to mention here that, although wrestling fic may seem like real person fiction/RPF (and some of it out there is), mine is NOT. I write wrestling fic as if Joey and Serena were characters in a movie. Instead of going home and becoming their normal selves, in my fics I pretend they walk out of the ring and remain their characters. Does that make sense? This is written for the diva_fanfics table challenge, but they’re supposed to be under 1000 words. Which this is not. But, oh well. =)

“Serena?”

When Joey had unlocked and opened the door to his and Gallows’ hotel room, the last thing he had expected to see was Serena on his bed. Her knees were tucked up to her chest, and she was resting her forehead on them, arms wrapped around her legs. He didn’t realize she was crying until a shudder ran visibly through her body as she inhaled with a sob.

“Serena, aw, hey, don’t cry! What’s wrong?”

Quietly closing the door, he walked quickly over to her and sat down, hesitating before settling his arm around her shoulders. Serena jumped, jerking her head around and staring wide-eyed at him, mascara leaving trails down her cheeks. “Joey! I thought you’d never get here!”

He blinked, confused, and his confusion only further deepened when she flung her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

“Serena, you’re not making any sense. You’re- aw, hell. Don’t start crying again, please don’t start crying, I didn’t mean-” She had covered her face with her hands, but he nudged them away, cupping his hands around her face. “If you need to talk, Serena, I’m here. I’ll listen to whatever you have to sat for however long it takes. But if you just want someone here with you, I can do that too. And if you need to cry, well, then cry- but I can’t promise I won’t try to stop you. Okay?”

The corners of his mouth turned up in the barest of smiles. Serena sniffed, breathing in shakily and nodding, returning his small smile with a wavery one of her own.

“Good.” Dropping his hands from her face, he scooted backwards on the bed, tucking his legs up and sitting criss-cross.

Serena said nothing for a long time, not looking at Joey, not looking at anything, before finally turning to him. She was almost going to apologize for intruding, to thank him for understanding and then leave… but she couldn’t. There was something about his expression, something about how openly, how genuinely concerned about her he seemed. She knew right then that if she wanted to scream at him, to hit him, to abuse him in whatever way, to cry on his shoulder- that he would let her.

Another thing she knew right then was that he would always be there for her, no matter what.

And so instead of leaving, Serena found herself opening her mouth and telling him, “He hasn’t spoken to me in three days.”

Joey didn’t have to ask who ‘he’ was. “Did something happen between you two?”

“No. No, I don’t think so. He just- he doesn’t even look at me, Joey, doesn’t listen when I try to talk to him; it’s like I’m not even there, like I just don’t exist.” She stopped for a moment, staring into nothing, before saying slowly, “It mist be my fault, though. I must have done something. He wouldn’t just do this. It has to be me.”

“Serena, no, don’t talk like that-”

“But it’s true. It’s me.” She shook her head from side to side, smiling mirthlessly. “It’s always me. I’m not good enough for him, Joey. He deserves so much better.” Her eyes welled up with tears again, and she held her arms out to him. At that moment, as he took her in his arms, Serena reminded Joey more of a smile child than of the woman he had fallen in love with when he’d first laid eyes on her, the woman who he knew would never think of him in the same way that he thought of her. Holding her tightly, her head on his shoulder, Joey let her cry, doing his best to soothe her, rubbing her back. When she was done, she hugged him once more, and spoke, her breath against his neck, “Thank you, Joey.”

Letting go of him, she sat back, trying to wipe the tears off of her face with the back of her hand. Joey, though, had already gotten up, grabbing a tissue from the box on the dresser. Sitting back down in front of her, he gently pushed her hands away from her face once more and carefully began to wipe away her tears. When he finished, he turned slightly, tossing the tissue into the trash.

“Joey, thank you so much. For being so understanding.”

He shrugged. “We’ve gotta stick together- we’re the Straight Edge Society. Who can we turn to if we don’t have each other?”

“Mmm.” Serena nodded, running a hand over her head, before letting out a short laugh. “I must look absolutely horrible.”

“No, not at all. You look beautiful, Serena. You always do.” Squinting one eye shut, he held his hands up as if he was holding a camera, miming taking a picture of her, before turning his invisible camera around as if to show her. “See?”

As he grinned at her, she couldn’t help but return the smile, giggling. They sat like that for a time, simply enjoying each other’s presence and being happy. When their brief burst of laughter faded, Joey glanced away from her, then back, tongue skimming over his lips nervously. “Serena-”

What he had been about to say, or why, he didn’t really know, but as she suddenly leaned over and pressed her lips to his, it no longer mattered. He froze for a moment, unable to believe or understand what was happening, before letting himself go and leaning into the kiss, eyes closing. It didn’t take long for her mouth to open, her tongue gently urging his to do the same. Serena’s hands slipped from his shoulders to the buttons of his shirt, working at them with trembling fingers, beginning to undo them. She wasn’t even halfway done before Joey pulled back, his lips bending down in a slight frown. “Serena, are you sure?”

He had wanted this for so long, ever since he’d met her, he had fantasized it, dreamt about it. But he didn’t want to do this if she was just going to use him as a tool to get back at Punk without Punk ever even knowing it.

“Oh, would you just shut up and get naked already?” Serena threw her hands up in seeming exasperation, and Joey blinked, surprised, before he noticed her grin- she was just fooling around.

“Joey.” She leaned forward, kissing him quickly. “If I didn’t want to do this, I wouldn’t have even let it go this far. I want to do this. ” Another kiss. “I want to do this with you.”

Hearing her words, hearing what she was saying with such conviction, Joey swallowed,. If they did this, there was no going back- nothing would ever be the same, especially if Punk ever found out. That was another thing- each of them in the Straight Edge Society had been with each other before. Punk had said at the beginning that he wanted there to be absolute trust among all of them, and no barriers, physical or mental. But it was also clear- although unspoken- that no one was to touch Serena in that way unless he said so. Serena belonged to Punk, in every meaning and sense of the word.

Yet here she was, telling Joey that she wanted him, waiting for his answer.

“If you think you’re going to regret it, I can leave now, Joey. It’s okay. I’ll understand.” She was already rising from the bed, assuming his hesitation to be his answer.

“No, Serena,” Joey half-rose himself, placing a hand on her shoulder, drawing her back down with him. “I want this, too.” He paused before saying the words that he had never thought in his wildest imaginings he would say to her. “I want you.”

Serena smiled, kissing him again, passionate and lingering, before making quick work of the rest of his buttons, easing his shirt off of him and spreading her hands on his chest. Their lips met again, more fiercely now that any boundary that had existed before was now entirely removed, separating only as he drew her shirt over her head. His fingers fumbled at the clasp of her bra, and she couldn’t suppress a giggle at his sheepish grin as she helped him remove it.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she fell back into the pillows, bringing him with her, on top of her. His lips followed the curve of her jaw, and then her neck, his teeth nipping. He stopped when she gasped at a particularly sharp nip, murmuring an apology into her ear, “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry/”

“Don’t apologize. Don’t stop.” The words spilled out in a breathy jumble, as if she wasn’t sure which ones to say first, as if none of them could wait to be spoken. Her eyes met his, and once again, what they were doing and what the consequences could be if Punk found out hit him. But that didn’t matter anymore- they had passed a point, and now there was no going back. He resumed his trail down her body, his hands brushing thoughtless patterns along her sides before drifting to the zipper of her jeans, sliding it down. As her drew her jeans and panties down, Serena lifted her hips to make it easier for him, and both items soon joined the rest of the clothing on the floor.

Running his fingers through her neat triangle of hair, he lightly traced a finger along her folds, feeling a thrill go through him as she exhaled with a moan. He repeated the motion, reversing the direction, and a shiver of delight went through her, raising goosebumps on her skin.

“Joey, please. I don’t know how much time we have.”

He knew she was right, but he didn’t want to rush; he wanted this to last, to mean something. Hurrying would be too much like the old days- fleeting, sticky moments with a parade of nameless women. It had all been strictly wham, bam thank you, ma’am. Empty, meaningless. With Melina it was different, but there had always been something missing emotionally between them. In retrospect, he could look back and realize it was because she was in love with Nitro. He realized now how utterly empty everything had been then, how much he’d tried to fill that void with alcohol, with drugs, with sex. It hadn’t worked, and he didn’t want to- wouldn’t- live like that anymore.

He was a changed man, and he wanted what they were about to do to mean something, anything, for both of them.

Inhaling her scent, he sat up only long enough to unbutton his jeans, to remove all guards between his flesh and hers. That done, his body once more covered hers, their lips almost touching. “You’re right. You’re right. We’ll just have to make the most of what time we have.” His lips sealing over hers, he pushed inside of her. Her response was immediate, her muscles clenching around him as she gasped into his mouth, back arching.

Joey took it slow at first, wanting Serena to feel every movement, every breath, every sensation. But the line between rational thought and lust soon blurred, her cries and her nails on his back spurring him in to more, and more, and more.

But this time, giving into lust didn’t feel empty. It didn’t feel like lust for the sake of lust. Going over that edge, that crest, sharing that moment with her, was different than any of the other times, any of the other women. There was something he’d never felt before, a connection that was not only physical, but emotional.

After they had spiraled back down, spent, and she curled up beside him, pressing her lips lightly against his neck and meeting his eyes with a smile before settling her head on his chest, he knew without a doubt that he was in love with a woman who was in love with another man.

“You should go.” Joey’s voice was a low murmur, his fingers trailing circles on her shoulder.

“I know.”

“I don’t know when Luke’ll be back. And Punk might be looking for you.”

Serena took in a long breath, exhaling it slowly, before pushing herself away from him and standing up. She smiled at him again, although this time there was a sadness to it, an understanding. “I know, Joey. I know.”